First Glance: Texas A&M at Alabama

What You Need to Know:

• Tickets for this game are sold out. Good luck on the secondary market.
• Texas A&M is currently ranked 6th in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
• Alabama is currently ranked 1st in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
• Alabama is on a 19 game winning streak dating back to September 26, 2015; which is the longest in the country.
  
• ESPN College GameDay is coming to Tuscaloosa.

Association of Former Students’ Events:

• Aggie HQ will be Chuy’s, 16 Summit Blvd. in Birmingham. (Google Map)
• Midnight Yell will be at the same location (Chuy’s)
• The All Aggie Tailgate will be held at the Visiting Team Alumni Village on campus (Map)
• All other information can be found here.

Betting Lines:

• Lines for the game opened at Texas A&M +16.5.

• Texas A&M is 4-2 ATS and Alabama is 5-2 ATS for the season.
• A&M has not covered the spread against Alabama in the last 3 games against the Tide.

Historical Notes:

• Alabama leads the all-time series 6-2 and has won the previous 3 meetings.
• Texas A&M is 1-1 in Tuscaloosa; with 2012 being one of the greatest games in A&M history, and 2014 being one of the worst.
• Texas A&M and Alabama have shared multiple coaches and players through the years with the most notable being Paul "Bear" Bryant. Gene Stallings and Dennis Franchione also coached for both schools. Jackie Sherrill played at Alabama for Bear Bryant and later coached A&M. Likewise, John David Crow won a Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M and later served as an assistant coach at Alabama, and Athletic Director for Texas A&M.
• Famous Alumni: Bear Bryant, Jackie Sherrill, Robert Horry, Joe Namath, Bart Starr, Rece Davis, Winston Groom (author of “Forrest Gump”).
• Unfortunately, Alabama does not have a live Elephant mascot, and this is a travesty for all of College Football.

Tiders to Watch:

Jalen Hurts

Jalen is a 6’2” 209 lb freshman dual-threat quarterback from Channelview, TX, who has the Tide rolling this season. He has thrown for 9 touchdowns (3 interceptions), and run for 8 more on the ground. This is not your game manager Alabama QB of the past several seasons, but an actual game changer. The Aggie defense will need to find a way to pressure him and force bad throws.

The Alabama Defense and Special Teams

All of them. Both units are extremely talented at making scoring opportunities by creating plays and turnovers. Both Units have combined for 11 touchdowns on the season. Alabama is beating teams in all phases of the game. Trevor Knight and the offense needs to protect the ball to prevent defensive touchdowns while special teams needs to not break assignment and make tackles.

Media Blitz:

• Game time is set for 2:30 CST
• Channel: CBS Game of the Week
• Venue: Bryant-Denny Stadium
• Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (list of affiliates)

Newsreel:

• Texas A&M likely to be Alabama’s biggest remaining test.
• Justin Evans named mid-season Defensive Player of the Year by NFL.com.

Weather:

• The current weather forecast calls for a Sunny day with the high near 74 degrees on Saturday.